Minnow pail



May 28, 1935.

T. c. FQRB'ES El" AL NhNNow PAIL Filed July 10, 1930 '3 Sheets-SheetZ 1'N VEN TORS BE H mm M

To m3 May 28, 1935. T. 'c. FORBES ET AL MINNOW PAIL Filed July lO 1.9303 Sheets-Sheet 3 n n so 7/ 1 31a .3433

29 W 28 INVENTORS I THOMAS C.FOF?BE6 H B I l I m I I I A-rromvzvsPatented May 28, 1935 Thomas 0. Forbes, Hopkins, and OscarR. Hedberg,Minneapolis, Minn.

Application July '10, 1930, Serial No. 467,032

n H 12 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in minnow pails and has, amongits objects, to provide apail' having a hinged lid, and further having aperforate false bottom. which bottom ismovable vertically'therein,and'having means connecting this bottom to the lid of the pail, so thatopening thelid moves the-false bottom upwardly; to providemeans otherthan a lid knob for automatically operatingthe lid to open it; toprovide special constructionsfor connecting the lid and false bottomtomove in unison in the manner mentioned; and generally to provide asimple inex- -pensive device by which the minnows can be broughtadjacent the top of the pail when the lid is open.

Features of the inventioninclude all the details of constructionillustrated, along with the broader feature of automaticraising of theperforate false bottom, on opening of the lid.

Features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in thedescription of the drawings forming a part of this application, andinsaid drawings: 1

Figure 1 isa vertical section online 1-4 of Figure 3, showing oneembodiment of the invention in which" the lid is adapted to be openedmanually, and when 'so opened is adapted to automatically raise theperforate false "bottom to bring the fish adjacent the top of the pail;

Figure 2 is a vertical section on line 2-4 of Figure 3, showing the lidopen and the false bottom in raised position; 1

Figure 3 is a plansection on line-33 of Figure-1, with the mechanismpositioned in correspondence to a lowered position of the false bottom,and closed position'of the lid;

Figure 4 is a detail vertical sectionillustrating the manner ofdetachably securing the cover;

,"Figure'5 is a'vertical section on line 55 of Figure 4 furtherillustrating the cover-attaching means; i

Figure 6 is a vertical sectionshowing amodified embodiment in whichmeans, arranged at the'side of the pail, is adapted to simultaneouslymove the false bottom and lid;

' Figure'7 is a vertical section taken in a plan substantially at rightangles to the plane of Figure 6; and

Figure-8 is a vertical section on line 8-8"of Figure 6 illustrating thelever-operated cam.

. Numeral I indicates the bucket, numeral 2 the perforate verticallymovable false bottom, nu-

meral 3 the stationary, and 4 the pivoted lid.

The lid 4 is suitably pivoted'at one side asat i t'o the detachablecover3 and-hasasuitable latch pres"stho'se arms of the levers 2829 whichcarry :6 pivoted asvat l, the latch having a latch finger 8 which passesthrough an opening 9' of the cover 3,'see Figure 1. A suitable spring Imaintains the latch in operative position. The lid is provided with anextension l and to this extension is pivoted as at l2, a link l3. Theopposite end of the link is pivoted at M to a bellcrank lever i5 pivotedas at 16 to the cover 3. The opposite arm of the bellcrank lever haspivoted thereto as at l 8, a roller I! which engages the end of a rod l9arranged in parallel relation with the vertical wall --of the bucket andheld for translation in suitable bearings 2 I. Referring to Figure 2:The lower end of the rod I9 is broadened as at 25 and engaging-theundersurface of this broadened portioniare two rollers 26-41 respectivelycarried by levers 2829' pivoted at 3ll3| The pivotal points of theselevers lie substantially on a line which is diametrically related to thevertical axis of the pail, and symmetrically at each side of a diameterwhich passes through the axes of the pail and rod 19.. 'InFigure 2, thelevers are shown in full lines in raised position, butoccupy theposition shown in dotted lines when the false bottom is positioned as inFigure 1. Attached to the underside of the false bottom 'is' a bracket30* and suitably journaled on this bracket are a pair of meshed gears-3l --32 the shafts of which are indicated at indicated 363l. Theopposite end of the link 36 is pivoted as at 38 to lever 28, and theendof link -31 is pivoted as at 40 to link 29. l

From an inspection of the drawings, it is evident that, as the lid 4 ismoved from its position in Figure 1, to the position shown in Figure 2,link l3 acts 'onbellcrank lever 15 to depress rod l9, de-

40 the rollers 262l. Levers 28-29 act on links 36-31 to raise the falsebottom to the position shown. By the use of the gears, the false bottomis maintained in horizontal positions for all positions.

In order that the roller ll may unfailingly be caused to register withthe upper end of the rod 1 9, means is provided for assisting theoperator in properly positioning the cover 3. To this end,the uppermargin of the pail has outwardlyturned lugs 50 spaced apart as shown inFigure 4, and the lid has a flange 5| having openings 52 therein spacedin correspondence to the spacing of the lugs 50. Inapplying the coverthe openings 52 are registered'with the lugs 59 as shown in Figure 5,and

then the lid is swung downwardly to operative position about these lugsas a hinging point.

By this construction, it will be seen that whenever the lid 4 is opened,the false bottom is raised, and when the lid 4 is in fully openposition, the false bottom will occupy the position shown in full linesin Figure 2.

In the modification of Figure 6, means is provided whereby the lid 4 isopened by means other than by its knob 6!. The essential differencebetween this embodiment of the invention and that first described isthat in the second embodiment, the link l3 and lever 15 have beenreplaced by a leveror crank-operated cam. The crank is indicated at 62and is journaled as at 63 in the Vertical wall of the pail. Suitablysecured to the journal of this lever is a cam 65 shaped as best shown inFigure 8. This cam acts upon a roller 66 at the upper end of a shaft Bl,which shaft corresponds to the shaft IS. The lower end of this shaft Blacts against roller 69 and operates upon the levers 28'29, 36-31 andgears 3 l -+32 to raise the perforate false bottom 2, exactly in themanner previously described. In this instance the false bottom ispivotallyconnected to the pivoted cover 4 by means of a rod Ill formedas best shown in Figure 7. The terminals of this rod are pivoted as at Hto the false bottom 2, and the bent portion is pivoted as at 13 to thecover 4. This connection merely provides means for causing the falsebottom 2 and lid 4 to movein unison. It is conceivable that otherconnecting means may be employed without departing from the spirit ofthe invention.

Itwill be noted that when the lid is fully opened, the false bottom isdrawn to a position substantially immediately adjacent the opening 20 ofthe cover 3. The false bottom is, therefore,

. progressively raised or lowered in accordance to the correspondingmotion of the lid 4.

It will be noted that the toggles and gears provide means for moving thebottom and for preventing tipping of the bottom as it moves.

It will also be noted that the means for moving the bottom includes amanually operable pivoted or rotatable element accessible from theoutside of the enclosure when the lid is closed. Moreover, means isprovided by which the lid and bottom are caused to positively move inunison. Means -is also provided by which the unison movement is in thesame direction, and by which the bottom moves at a greater rate of speedthan the lid. Thus the lid motion may be small, and by the means hereinthe lid will always assume a fully open position by the time the bottomhas moved to its topmost position. It is obvious that the lid may bemade to fully open before the bottom reaches its uppermost position. Itis, moreover,

to be noted that the element ill, see Figure 6, forms a positiveconnection (in this instance a thrust connection) by means of which thelid is opened as the bottom rises. It will be further noted that thelink and lever connections I3I 5, Figure 1, also provide means wherebyeven a slight pivotal motion of the cover, results in a relatively moreextensive motion of the bottom. The same result is obtainable by othermotionmultiplying means, such as the gears and toggle members shown.

We claim as our. invention:

1. A live fish enclosure having a perforate bottom vertically movabletherein, and having a hinged lid, and toggle and lever means connectedto the enclosure and to the lid to cause the bottom to move toward thelid when the lid is opened.

2. A live fish enclosure having a hinged lid and a perforate bottomvertically movable therein, means connected to the enclosure andarranged beneath said bottom and adapted to raise and lower it,including meshing gears adapted to maintain the bottom in horizontalposition, for all elevations, and means for moving the lid and bottom inunison in the same direction, the lid to open position and the bottomvertically and vice versa.

3. A live fish enclosure having a hinged lid, and a perforate bottomvertically movable therein, lever and link means connected to theenclosure and arranged beneath said bottom and adapted to raise andlower it, meshing gears associated with the links and adapted to beoperated by said lever and link means tomaintain the bottom inhorizontal position, for all elevations, and means for moving the lidand bottom in unison in the same direction, the lid to open position andthe bottom vertically and vice versa.

i. A live fish enclosure having a perforate bottom movable up and downtherein, and so related to the wall of the'enclosure as to preventpassage of fish between it and the wall, means within and connected withthe enclosure and operating beneath the perforate bottom to raise it andlower it, and means for controlling the raising and lowering meansarranged substantially wholly within the enclosure and including acontrol part which is operable from a point above the perforate bottom.

5. A live fish enclosure having a lid and a perforate bottom movable upand down therein and so related to the wall of the enclosure as toprevent passage of fish between it and the wall, means within andconnected with the enclosure and operating beneath the perforate bottomto raise it and lower it, and means for controlling the raising andlowering means arranged within the enclosure and including a controlpart which is operable from a point above the perforate bottom, andmeans by which the lid controls the control part, to cause the bottom tobe raised when the lid is opened.

6. A live fish enclosure having a perforate bottom movable up and downtherein and so related to the wall of the enclosure as to preventpassage of fish between it and the wall, means within and connected withthe enclosure and operating beneath the perforate bottom to raise it andlower it, means operated by the raising and lowering means formaintaining a level condition of the bottom as it moves, and means forcontrolling the raising and lowering means arranged substantially whollywithin the enclosure and including a control part which is accessiblefrom a point above the perforate bottom.

7. A live fish enclosure having a hinged lid, and a movable bottom sorelated to the wall of the enclosure as to prevent passage of fishbetween it and the wall, toggle means beneath the bottom for raising andlowering the bottom, and means by which bottom and lid move in unison sothat the bottom moves from a point near the bottom of the enclosure to apoint near but below the top thereof, while said lid is moving fromclosed to open position, and means accessible from a point above thebottom for controlling the toggle means.

8. A live fish enclosure having a perforated horizontally arrangedbottom movable vertically therein, toggle means connected to theenclosure .and bottom to raise and lower the bottom inat all positions,and 'means accessible from a point above the bottom for operating thetoggle means.

9. A live fish enclosure having a perforate bottom vertically movabletherein, multiplying toggle means within the enclosure below the bottomand connected to the enclosure and to the bottom to cause the bottom tomove upwardly, including means for maintaining the bottom insubstantially horizontal position at all levels, and means forcontrolling the toggle means.

10. A live fish enclosure having a perforate bottom vertically movabletherein, and toggle and lever means within the enclosure and connectedthereto and to the bottom to cause the bottom to move upwardly,including meshing gears for maintaining the bottom in substantiallyhorizontal position at all levels.

11. A live fish enclosure having a hinged lid and a perforate bottomvertically movable there in, means connected to the enclosure and inpart arranged beneath and in part attached to said bottom and adapted toraise and lower it, including means adapted to maintain the bottom inhorizontal position for all levels, means by which the bottom moves thelid to open position as the bottom moves upwardly and vice versa, andmeans for controlling the first mentioned means.

12. A live fish enclosure having a hinged lid and a perforate bottomvertically movable therein, toggle means connected to the enclosure andarranged beneath and in part connected to the bottom and adapted toraise and. lower it, including means adapted to maintain the bottom inhorizontal position for all elevations, and means by which thebottom-moving means is operated by the lid to raise the bottom as thelid opens and vice versa.

THOMAS C. FORBES. OSCAR R. HEDBERG.

